Careers at Hitachi

Mission

Hitachi is a publicly-listed diversified conglomerate that is engaged primarily in the manufacture of electronic and electrical products for consumer, business and industrial customers.

History

Hitachi was founded by electrical engineer Namihei Odaira in 1910. That year the Company launched its very first product, Japan’s first five-horsepower induction motor to be used in the country’s copper mining industry. While Hitachi’s early products gained some notoriety for their quality, the Company initially found it difficult to find buyers. The Company, however, began to generate business following the outbreak of World War I, with manufacturers in Europe unable to complete their orders.

Hitachi, meaning rising sun, was formally incorporated in 1920. The Company continued to expand during the 1920, developing new products and making various acquisitions, as a leader of Japan’s burgeoning industrial economy. World War II, however, significantly affected the Company’s operations, with many of its facilities succumbing to Allied bombing raids. Its operations were limited following the war’s climax, with the Company not returning to its pre-war expansion strategy until the 1950s.

Hitachi expanded further during the latter half of the 20th Century, developing various new products and notably pursuing interests in new computer technology. Today the Company is one of the largest manufacturing companies in the world. It is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the OTC Markets, and has a current market capitalisation of around JPY 2.4 trillion.

Business model of Hitachi

Customer Segments

Hitachi serves a range of customers across multiple business and government sectors. The Company also produces consumer electronics and home appliance products for the general population. Hitachi has a worldwide presence and serves customers through multiple channels.

Hitachi also provides specialist products to various industrial clients and enterprise-wide solutions and services to corporate customers. Among the sectors served by Hitachi’s more specialised products and services are the financial services, healthcare, retail, IT, manufacturing, education, communications, utilities, natural resources and pharmaceutical industries. Among the Company’s customers are numerous Fortune 500 companies, including Cisco, Ford, Sears, Pfizer, AT&T, Wells Fargo and Intel.

Hitachi also serves a range of government clients. In the US, for example, its companies are provided services directly to the United States Census Bureau, the Department of Commerce and the Los Angeles County Internal Services Department.

Value Propositions

Hitachi is one of the most established, experienced and well-respected electrical and electronics manufacturing companies in the world. Its brand name carries with it a reputation for providing reliable and efficient products, demonstrated by the fact that it serves many of the world’s largest companies, as well as government bodies.

The Company’s high quality service is enhanced by the contributions of its various market-leading partners, notably within the tech space, which also help Hitachi to continue providing innovative and interesting products to its customers.

Hitachi products are available across multiple channels, including from third-party vendors, making them easily accessible.

The Company also provides ongoing customer support and technical assistance to its customers, ensuring that its products perform as designed.

Channels

Hitachi’s products are available to customers across multiple channels. The Company operates various online stores, divided by business segment or division and jurisdiction, including www.hitachiconsumer.com and www.hitachi-hli.com/e-shop.

Hitachi products are also available through a range of third-party online retailers, authorised resellers, dealership and chain electronics outlets. The Company’s more specialised products, particularly those serving industrial clients, can be purchased directly from the Hitachi sales team or through one of the Company’s licensed distributors.

Customer Relationships

Many of Hitachi’s products are available on a self-service basis, either through Hitachi’s own online stores or through third-party online resellers, requiring no interaction with the Company’s sales representatives.

Hitachi also sells products to customers through a network of authorised dealers and electronics stores, where customers can receive a greater degree of personal care.

The Company’s more specialised products and solutions can be purchased through Hitachi’s own sales team or from one of many licensed distributors.

Hitachi customers are provided ongoing customer care in the form of online resources such as user guides, tutorials and FAQs, as well through direct enquiries with the Company through online contact forms, email or over the phone. Hitachi also interacts with its customers directly through its various social media accounts, including with Facebook and Twitter.

Key Activities

Hitachi is a multinational conglomerate with diversified interests. It operates across nine business segments: Information and Telecommunication Systems, including the manufacture of telecoms products, consulting services and system integration; Social Infrastructure and Industrial Systems, including the manufacture and installation of elevator, railway vehicles and water treatment facilities; Electronic Systems and Equipment, including the the production of electronic components, processing systems and communications systems; Construction Machinery, including the manufacture of construction and maintenance machinery such as hydraulic excavators; High Functional Materials and Components, including the manufacture and sale of specialized components for use in the IT, automotive and consumer electronics fields; Automotive Systems, including the production of engine management and drive control systems; Smart Life and Ecofriendly Systems, including the manufacture and sale of household appliances, consumer electronics and digital media products; Others, including the provision of logistics, freight transportation, warehouse management solutions; and Financial Services, including the provision of collection agency, trust and insurance services.

Until April 2015 Hitachi also operated a Power Systems Division that comprised the production and sale of nuclear power components, renewable energy products and transmission systems. This segment has since been amalgamated into the Social Infrastructure and Industrial Systems Division.

Key Partners

Across its numerous subsidiaries, regional offices and business divisions Hitachi partners with a range of companies from various sectors and jurisdictions. Its network of partners includes independent software vendors, technology partners, systems integration partners, authorised resellers, managed service providers, cloud services providers, advisors and distributors. Hitachi manages a network of strategic alliance partners, largely comprising high-profile tech companies, including Adobe Systems, SAP, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Intel and Red Hat.

Hitachi also partners with companies that are authorised to provide services to federal agencies, including Accenture and ViON, and companies that specialise in serving public sector organisations, such as Insight Public Sector and GSA Federal Supply Schedule.

Key Resources

Hitachi’s key resources are its products, its manufacturing facilities, its warehousing and distribution channels, its various partnerships, its sales channels and its personnel.

Hitachi has numerous patent applications filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office, including applications entitled ‘Shock absorber and method for manufacturing shock absorber’, ‘Sealed scroll compressor for helium’ and ‘Vehicle battery charger and a fault diagnosis of relay’.

Cost Structure

Hitachi incurs costs in relation to its research and development activities, its manufacturing operations – including the procurement of supplies, the transport, warehousing and distribution of its products – and the retention of its personnel.

The Company is a multinational organisation, operating numerous regional offices across the world which individually accrue fixed costs relating to rent and utilities.

Revenue Streams

Hitachi is a multinational conglomerate with interests diversified across multiple sectors. The Company principally derives its revenue from the manufacture and sale of various electronic, electrical and industrial products.

Hitachi’s revenue is generated by its nine operating segments. In the year ending 31st March 2016 the Company’s Social Infrastructure and Industrial Systems Division was its largest contributor to annual revenue, generating $20.65 billion, accounting for around 21% of the Company’s total revenue of $99.05 billion. The strong performance of this segment is due in part to its merger with the Company’s Power Systems Division in April 2015. Hitachi’s Information and Telecommunications Systems Division generated $18.67 billion in fiscal year 2015, representing 19% of total revenue, while the Company’s production of specialised high functional components generated $13.84 billion, or 14%, of revenue for the year.

The only other segment to contribute more than 10% of Hitachi’s annual revenue in 2015 was its Others segment, comprising logistics, warehouse management and freight solutions, which generated 11% of total revenue. Hitachi’s other operating divisions – Electronic Systems and Equipment, Automotive Systems, Construction Machinery, Financial Services, and Smart Life & Ecofriendly Systems – accounted for between 3% (Financial Services) and 10% (Electronic Systems & Equipment) of total annual revenue.

Our team

Toshiaki Higashihara,
President and Chief Executive Officer

info: Toshiaki has been Hitachi’s President since 2014 and has been its Chief Executive Officer since 2016. He has been Hitachi employee for almost 40 years, having joined the Company in 1977, shortly after graduating from the The University of Tokushima’s Faculty of Engineering. He has held senior executive positions at the Company since 2006, when he was appointed Chief Operating Officer of the Information & Telecommunication Systems Division. Higashihara has also served as President of Hitachi Power Europe, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hitachi Plant Technologies, and Chief Operating Officer of Hitachi.

Ryuichi Kitayama,
Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer

info: Ryuichi has served as Hitachi’s Chief Marketing Officer since 2009, and as Executive Vice President since 2015. Kitayama first joined the Company in 1976 and has held numerous management and executive roles within the Company’s various business divisions. This includes spells as General Manager of Corporate Sales and Marketing Group, Chief Marketing Officer of the Information and Telecommunication Systems Division, and Chief Executive for China.

Yutaka Saito,
Executive Vice President and Executive Officer

info: Yutaka has served as Executive Vice President and Executive Officer at Hitachi since 2014. He is also Chairman and director of Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc. Saito is a long-serving Hitachi employee, having joined the Company in 1979. He has since risen through the Company’s management ranks, holding various high-profile roles within the Hitachi group’s business divisions. This includes roles as President Chief Executive Officer of Information and Control Systems, Chief Executive Officer of Platform Systems Business in the Information and Telecommunication Systems Division, and Deputy General Manager of Smart City Business Management Division.